Graduation party

Zarya, age seven months, with Shadrack's pastor's wife

Zarya with the graduate himself

Making a new friend, a two-year-old named Grace

Shadrack feeding Andrew cake

We recently helped put on a graduation party for a friend of ours, Shadrack.  Shadrack helped Andrew with Swahili waaaay back in the day in 2010.  In 2011 he left Musoma to attend teacher's training college on the other side of Tanzania, and wasn't able to visit home a single time for two years.  He's close to his family and they really missed him (and vice versa).  Shadrack's dad died of cancer several years ago, leaving his wife and five kids with no source of income.  Shadrack is the oldest boy and a really smart fellow, so he's hoping he'll be able to support his mom and siblings.

But back to the present and the pictures above.  Two days after Shadrack's return to Musoma, we and his mom put on a party to welcome him back.  Several people from their church came and it was a fun afternoon with some good food.  I had made a cake and they decided that we should not only enjoy it American style (everyone eating a piece), but also Tanzanian style... the special guest feeding everyone small bites with a toothpick.

Andrew, who was very willing to participate despite being slightly less than keen on another man feeding him cake, is pictured with his piece.  This was the second time in his life he's been fed cake by a man - the first was when he was best man at a Tanzanian friend's wedding and he and the groom exchanged pieces (as did the bride and I, as matron of honor).  Tanzanians love ceremony and formality, so we posed for pictures with every bite and make a big to-do about it as Shadrack fed cake to almost everyone in the room.

Overall, it was great to see Shadrack again, and we enjoyed seeing Zarya being friendly with new people (she'd met a couple of them before, but none of the ones pictured).  I was very glad I'd brought the cake, because, in addition to being pretty tasty, it provided some great entertainment.